User:Meriann123/sandbox

Curve is a short  horror  film released in April 16, 2016 in the  United States and written and directed by Tim Egan in  Australia Curve Horror Short Film. It displays a woman battling to remain from falling to her death from a smooth  concrete surface into an  abyss. The audience is shown her struggle through  cinematic techniques, leaving the question of whether she can escape a  life-or-  death situation.

Plot
As outlined, by Rob Munday, the film depicts a nameless woman who is clinging onto life. Moreover, the Short of the Week website explains how she is shown gripping a high smooth, curved surface above an abyss. She is shown trying to hold on to her safety before falling to her death. Therefore, it is considered to be a dark,  minimalistic and truly unsettling  film. The climax of rain and the slow slipping of the woman's hands is chilling, as the screen finally blinks to the empty curve, now suggesting either the death or the long sinister fall that she faced.

Cast

 * Laura Jane Turner as The Woman

Psychological horror
Curve is arguably a psychological horror,  metaphorically representing depression as a dark,  boundless pit which the Curve creates. The authors Charles Forceville and Sissy Paling collaboratively analyze the  metaphorical representation of depression in short, wordless  animation films upon the Sage Journals website. Together, they concluded the films feature two dominant metaphors: depression is a dark monster and depression is a dark confining space, proposing that these two can be understood linked based on Lakoff’s ‘duals’ theory discussed in ‘The contemporary theory of metaphor’ (1992). The proposed metaphors that repeatedly establish depression as dark in short, wordless films are reflective of the dark visual aspects seen in Curve.

Survival horror
Furthermore, Alison Foreman suggests in the IndieWire website article that 'the best survival films immerse viewers in life-or-death scenarios, balancing realism and believability with slow-burn suspense', which is evident in a spine-chilling manner that The Woman grips onto the smooth slope and screams frustratedly with raw emotion. Usually set in hostile, almost inescapable environments, survival thrillers such as Curve convey the real-life problems of  danger and how it is sometimes undefeated.

Fear
The stripped-back narrative primarily showcases the woman's  fear. Within Curve, the woman displays behavioral reactions associated with fleeing in response to recognizing the potential proposed threat. Paul Ekman, a pioneer in the study of emotions, presents  fear as one of the seven universally experienced  emotions. Yet, Dhruv Trivedi further suggests that the short horror film presents death and hopelessness. Collectively, these three themes of fear, death, and hopelessness contribute to establishing a hard-hitting vision, typically constructed in horror films. Additionally, Trevedi outlines that Curve scares by inciting the  fear of the unknown, evoking the inexplicable scenario metaphorically as a  nightmare.

Hope
According to Chege Karamo, this film is about a situation with no hope of recovery because the film depicts a situation where The Woman character in Curve can barely hold onto the slippery concrete surface she lies on and the area offers no evident escape roots. Chege Karamo then explores visual  imagery, which can be accessed on Okay Bliss, of The Woman, noticing the  bloody handprints on the wall opposite her which descend into the dark, indicating that whoever was on the other side fell in. Additionally, using a silver  chain on her  neck, to make a final, desperate attempt to  escape, before the screen goes black. Finally, it is noted the film closes with a view of the empty slope.

Audio
The only audio heard is that of The Woman herself, the person who supposedly suffered her inevitable fate before her, and the suspenseful sounds of  nature (e.g.  the sea and  rain), which, according to The Artifice, contributes to the building of tension and cinematic climax. M. L. Flood further suggests that 'the challenge is for Hollywood to tell a story by making as little noise as possible and featuring little to no dialogue.', allowing the story to be constructed 'visually through unique scenes, dynamic settings, and engaging action to keep audiences entertained. Doing this allows more room for the audience to decide how the story speaks to them.

Language
Curve is a wordless short  horror  film and so has no  dialogue. This means that Curve is not regionally predetermined to  Australia. It can be watched and understood globally by viewers as it was uploaded onto online streaming services such as YouTube, Rotten Tomatoes, and  IMDb. Recently, it was also shared on social media pages such as  TikTok gaining more interest from an  online audience.

Within 2014, Addley Bianus the research result found that four components in 'Film Language' i.e. cinematography,  mise-en-scene,  editing, and  audio have played a big role in horror film genre from the technical aspect and could also influence the development of story plot of a horror film. Addley Bianus' research, suggests that the suitability of scripted language in horror is dependent as it was concluded that horror films apply similar 'Film Language' and so using repetitive language features can tarnish the overall creativity in horror films.

Reception
With its trailer being released on director Tim Egan's Youtube page on January 10, 2015, Curve reached film festivals globally and was received positive reviews from critics and viewers alike. Traveling from festivals such as FrightFest and  Tribeca, the full short was finally released on social media and social networking service,  Facebook, and video hosting platform,  Vimeo on June 23, 2017, ensuing in further publication on other  Youtube platforms such as Short of the Week which to date has received 3.5 million views.